"Non e sempre la solita storia" is a beginning Italian reader that tells the story of two young people from different continents who happen to meet and begin a relationship.
An immersion text, the language, grammar, and cultural instruction come together seamlessly. A visual dictionary provides pictorial clues to new words in the texts. True/false questions after each reading allow readers to immediately check comprehension. Target vocabulary and grammatical structures are recycled throughout the text for review and to function as building blocks for new language and conversational skills.
The sections of the story are set against Venetian landmarks, including Il Campanile, La Basilica San Marco, the Giardini della Biennale, and the Ponte di Rialto. The storyline is both familiar and fresh, drawing students in and placing the language in an easily imagined and relatable context.
"Non e sempre la solita storia" is well suited to beginning courses in Italian. It can also be used as a supplemental reader for intermediate students and as a quick refresher and review for those with advanced skills.
Chiara Carnelos is a graduate of the University of Padua, Italy, where she studied Italian and Comparative literature. She also studied in Dublin and Paris. She has taught at the Italian Cultural Center in San Diego, and she currently teaches at the University of California, San Diego. She has twice received the Award in Teaching Excellence from the Linguistics Language Program at UCSD. She is a five-time winner of the international poetry contest Premio Internazionale Giovani E Poesia Triuggio in Italy and many others, notably the poetry contest Voci del Vajont."